Podcast Summary: “Ear Hustle” Comes to New York

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Alison Stewart welcomes Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, co-hosts and co-creators of the groundbreaking podcast “Ear Hustle,” to discuss their new NYC-based audio project, The Loop. Traditionally focused on telling the stories of adults within the criminal justice system, this marks Ear Hustle’s first deep dive into the experiences of incarcerated youth, centering on a Brooklyn facility for young people. The conversation explores the making and philosophy of the new series, the profound challenges—and hopes—affecting kids in detention, and the power of creative interventions like improv and drama.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shifting Focus: From Adults to Youth

• Why the Change?
  • Nigel and Earlonne discuss how, after nearly a decade telling adult stories from San Quentin, an invitation from Michigan researchers led them to a drama program in a juvenile facility in New York.
  • Nigel Poor (02:12): “We were contacted by a group of researchers from Michigan who are on a project about this drama club... and it was sort of like kismet... We always say yes.”

2. What is “The Loop”?

• Meaning Behind the Name
  • The concept refers both to the cyclical nature of the justice system (“the loop”) and the hope that young people can break out of it.
  • Earlonne Woods (02:53): “The loop just means basically, you know, sometimes the system goes around in circles… and usually we name our episodes after something that's said in it.”

3. Youth, Creativity, and Connection: The Drama Club

• Inside Crossroads Youth Detention Facility, Brooklyn
  • Focus of episode one: Improv sessions in “Drama Club,” designed to teach conflict resolution and provide an outlet for kids.
  • Nigel Poor (03:50): “The idea of Drama Club is to have these young folks think about conflict resolution in a different way... and give them something to do inside.”
  • Moments of Transformation
    • Kids arrive withdrawn and skeptical, but improv games spark joy and realness.
    • Earlonne Woods (04:21): “Improv really creates a setting of, like, rehabilitation... individuals… break out of whoever they professing to be and just be kids again.”
    • Nigel Poor (04:47): “The kids came in, they were so not interested… The kids’ faces just lit up… you could see that they were actually kids.”

4. The “Five Rules” of Drama Club

• Yes, and
• Who, what, where
• Support your partner
• Make your partner look good
• No violence
• Always find the conflict
  • Group banter—playful and warm (06:12–06:44)

5. Youth Perspective: Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz

• A Participant’s Take
  • Powerful voice clip (07:26–08:21):
    • “The main part that I liked was the snacks... it reminds me of home.... I found it kind of corny in the beginning... But... this nice ass lady’s coming up to me, just really asking me, like, how I’m feeling. I was like, oh, wow, somebody cared.”
  • Nigel Poor (08:31): “It’s those small gestures... that mean so much. Those details which show the possibility of change and connection.”

6. Challenges of Building Trust and Reporting on Youth

• For Kids & Adults
  • Trust takes time—frequent visits build relationships. Drama Club staff act as mentors, disciplinarians, teachers (09:07–10:07).
• For the Podcast Hosts
  • Interviewing teenagers is fundamentally different and difficult.
    • Nigel Poor (10:19): “It was really challenging for me... Teenagers... can be very cut off from their emotions... it’s hard to... push teenagers in a way that I’m not sure they’re going to be comfortable with.”
    • Earlonne Woods (11:19): “I came from the juvenile hall facility... I kind of understand just on a different level what that’s like, you know, being in there.”

7. Earlonne’s Personal Connection

• Leveraging Experience
  • Builds a bridge with youth but remains aware of unique individual experiences.
  • Earlonne Woods (12:17): “Even though we may have similar, similar backgrounds... it’s not the same. So I can’t never go in there thinking like, I know what you’re going through.”
  • Surprises young people with the fact he spent 27 years in prison, which lends credibility and hope (12:55).

8. Production & Legal Challenges

• Recording Limitations
  • Only able to record youth over 18 due to legal/consent barriers; focus shifted to a smaller, older group and more staff interviews.
  • Nigel Poor (13:58): “We had to make the best of it. It did allow us to talk with more of the people who actually work at Crossroads.... And I’m really excited to share that with listeners.”

9. Staff Impact & Local Nuance

• Youth workers at Crossroads
  • YDS (Youth Development Specialists) and OEMs (Overnight Emergency Managers) are central to youth experience, often coming from the same neighborhoods as the kids.
  • Earlonne Woods (15:22): “They literally there to help.”
• Cultural/Regional Differences
  • New York vs. California language and customs—slang and “hall” vs. “hole” (16:24); “OPS” meaning (16:51).

10. Parent-Child Reunifications: Children’s Museum of Manhattan

• Programs for Incarcerated Parents
  • Museums open privately to facilitate family visits outside the usual confines of prison.
  • Nigel Poor (18:08): “It allows a kind of normality, especially for the children... they get this afternoon to just be a mom and a dad and kids together, laughing, eating regular food, doing stuff at the Children’s Museum. It’s just incredible.”
  • Profound, sometimes transformative experiences for both parents and children.
  • Earlonne Woods (19:02): “It’s life changing for the person that’s incarcerated... you get the opportunity to just go spend some time with your family and you start realizing, like, man, I should have been doing this the whole time.”

11. What’s Next from The Loop?

• Episode Two Preview:
  • Drops next Wednesday; titled “Crossroads 101.” Focus on the day-to-day operations inside Crossroads and deeper insight into staff (20:09–20:25).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Alison Stewart (00:07): “Ear Hustle tells the stories of people in prison in their own words and reveals the connections between life inside and outside.”
• Earlonne Woods (04:21): “Improv really creates a setting of, like, rehabilitation... individuals... break out of whoever they professing to be and just be kids again, you know?”
• Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz (07:26): “The main part that I liked was the snacks... it reminds me of home.... this nice ass lady’s coming up to me, just really asking me, like, how I’m feeling. I was like, oh, wow, somebody cared.”
• Nigel Poor (08:31): “It’s those small gestures... that mean so much.”
• Earlonne Woods (12:55): “You so it just gives me one leg up to say, you know, I spent 27 years in prison.”
• Nigel Poor (18:08): “[These visits] allow a kind of normality, especially for the children... it’s just incredible.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:12] – Why Ear Hustle is focusing on youth for the first time
• [02:53] – The meaning of “The Loop”
• [03:50] – The goals and environment of Drama Club in a youth facility
• [04:21] – Improv as rehabilitation; breaking down emotional walls
• [06:12] – Five guiding rules of the Drama Club
• [07:26] – Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz shares her story and the power of compassion
• [10:19] – Nigel Poor on challenges of interviewing teenagers
• [12:17] – Earlonne Woods’ personal experience informing his work
• [13:47] – Legal barriers for recording youth voices & pivot to staff perspectives
• [15:22] – Staff roles and their connection with the youth
• [18:08] – Children’s Museum visitation program and its impact
• [20:09] – Preview of Episode Two/What’s next for the series

Tone and Atmosphere

The conversation is empathetic, curious, and grounded in humility and humor. Nigel and Earlonne’s camaraderie, warmth, and deep sense of mission are evident, creating an inviting and honest reflection on the complexities of criminal justice, personal transformation, and the hope that community, creativity, and empathy can bring—especially for the city’s most vulnerable young people.

Recommended for listeners interested in:

• First-person narratives of incarceration
• Youth justice issues
• The healing power of the arts
• New York City’s social programs
• Humanizing stories that bridge life inside and outside the system